Zen / Mahayana
The Mahayana tradition of Buddhism, of which Zen is an important expression (along with Chinese Chan and Korean Soen), arose sometime around the first century C.E. in South India and spread throughout Asia. It is characterized by the ideal of the bodhisattva: the compassionate being whose desire for enlightenment isn’t an individual quest but includes all other sentient beings as well.
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Sky Above, Great Wind
The Life and Poetry of Zen Master Ryokan
Ryokan (1758–1831) is, along with Dogen and Hakuin, one of the three giants of Zen in Japan. But unlike his two renowned colleagues, Ryokan was a societal dropout, living mostly as a hermit and a beggar. He was never head of a monastery or temple. He liked playing with children. He had no dharma heir. Even so, people recognized the depth of his realization, and he was sought out by… Read More
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Straight to the Heart of Zen
Eleven Classic Koans and Their Inner Meanings
Koans are at the very heart of Zen practice; this collection of informal koan talks will bring the Zen student into the presence of Roshi Philip Kapleau, the famous author of The Three Pillars of Zen . The talks in this collection came directly from the zendo (training hall) and from the intense form of practice known as sesshin, a Japanese word meaning "to train the mind."… Read More
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Subtle Sound
The Zen Teachings of Maurine Stuart
- edited by
- Roko Sherry Chayat
Maurine Stuart (1922–1990) was one of a select group of students on the leading edge of Buddhism in America: a woman who became a Zen master. In this book, she draws on down-to-earth Zen stories, her friendships with Japanese Zen teachers, and her experiences as a concert pianist to apply the inner meanings of Buddhism to practicing the basic ethics of daily living—nowness, unselfishness, compassion, and good will toward every… Read More
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Teachings of the Earth
Zen and the Environment
According to Zen teaching, everything in the universe exists interdependently, so valuing the welfare of one being over another, or of humans over the planet, makes no sense at all. This teaching, which can empower us to care passionately about the earth and its future, is not only a Zen principle, it’s something that comes up for anyone who carefully investigates the nature of reality. It’s a lesson found everywhere… Read More
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Toward a Philosophy of Zen Buddhism
Zen experience defies all thinking and linguistic description and simply affirms what is evidently real: "The ordinary way—that precisely is the Way." After questioning the nature of reality, the Zen student discovers that what remains is what is. Although it seems that Zen would not lend itself to philosophical discussion, that all conceptualization would dissolve in light of this empiricism, in this volume, the author demonstrates that the… Read More
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Transmission of Light
Zen in the Art of Enlightenment by Zen Master Keizan
A translation of the classic Denkoroku by one of the premier translators of Buddhist and Taoist texts illustrates how to arrive at the epiphanic Zen awakening known as satori. The essential initiatory experience of Zen, satori is believed to open up the direct perception of things as they are. "Even if you sit until your seat breaks through, even if you persevere mindless of fatigue, even if you… Read More
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The True Dharma Eye
Zen Master Dogen's Three Hundred Koans
A collection of three hundred koans compiled by Eihei Dogen, the thirteenth-century founder of Soto Zen in Japan, this book presents readers with a uniquely contemporary perspective on his profound teachings and their relevance for modern Western practitioners of Zen. Following the traditional format for koan collections, John Daido Loori Roshi, an American Zen master, has added his own commentary and accompanying verse for each of Dogen’s koans. Zen… Read More
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Two Zen Classics
The Gateless Gate and the Blue Cliff Records
The strange verbal paradoxes called koans have been used traditionally in Zen training to help students attain a direct realization of truths inexpressible in words. The two works translated in this book, Mumonkan (The Gateless Gate ) and Hekiganroku (The Blue Cliff Record), both compiled during the Song dynasty in China, are the best known and most frequently studied koan collections, and are classics of Zen literature. They… Read More
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The Undying Lamp of Zen
The Testament of Zen Master Torei
- edited by
- Thomas Cleary
This is a complete explanation of Zen practice written by one of the most eminent masters of pre-modern Japan. The author, Torei Enji (1721–1792), was best known as one of two “genius assistants” to Hakuin Ekaku, who was himself a towering figure in Zen Buddhism who revitalized the Rinzai school. Torei was responsible for much of the advanced work of Hakuin’s later disciples and also helped systemize Hakuin’s teachings.… Read More
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The Unfettered Mind
Writings from a Zen Master to a Master Swordsman
This classic samurai-era text fused Japanese swordsmanship with Zen and influenced the direction that the art has taken ever since. Written by the seventeenth-century Zen master Takuan Soho (1573–1645), The Unfettered Mind is a book of advice on swordsmanship and the cultivation of right mind and intention. It was written as a guide for the samurai Yagyu Munenori, who was a great swordsman and rival to the legendary Miyamoto Musashi.… Read More
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